CL Mar 03: Catfish with Dill Sauce & Citrus Couscous Salad

[LisaSch]

Made these two dishes for dinner tonight and enjoyed both of them. They both went together very easily. The dill sauce was very good with a strong herb flavor, but didn't overwhelm the catfish like I was worried about. The Citrus Couscous Salad was really excellent. The only change I made was not adding the mint. I thought dill and citrus would be interesting together, but I thought dill and citrus and mint might be a bit much in the weird flavor combination. There was so much flavor from the other ingredients that I didn't miss the mint at all. Anyway, the salad was very good and I am definitely putting this one in my save catagory!

Lisa

[yorkshirepud]

Hi Lisa,

Would you mind sharing the recipe for the Citrus Couscous Salad. I'm looking for some new ways to prepare this stuff.

Thanks.
YP

[Terrytx]

* Exported from MasterCook *

Citrus Couscous Salad

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 8 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Salads

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 cups fresh orange juice, divided
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 (10 ounce) package couscous (about 1 2/3 cups)
1/2 cup dried apricots, sliced
1/2 cup dried currants
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cup chopped seeded cucumber
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Bring 1 1/2 cups orange juice, water, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Place couscous in a large bowl.

Combine 1/2 cup orange juice, apricots, currants, and vinegar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes, Drain and discard cooking liquid.

Add apricot mixture, cucumber, and remaining ingredients to couscous, tossing to combine.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 cup). 295 cal, 7.4g fat, 7.7g pro, 51.4g carb, 5g fiber, 0mg chol, 2mg iron, 302mg sod, 43mg calc.

Source:
"Cooking Light-3/03"

Serving Ideas : You can serve this salad chilled or at room temperature. It pairs nicely with fish, chicken or shrimp.

[SusanMac]

Lisa - try it with the mint next time, if it's easy for you to pick up mint. I remember a CL issue some time last year that featured mint in recipes. Before then, I only thought of using mint when I wanted a strong "minty" flavor, but was really surprised. It adds a nice flavor to a lot of dishes, but doesn't necessarily taste "minty." Hard to explain. But I no longer have a mint aversion.

[LisaSch]

Thanks, terry, for posting the recipe for YP. Hi YP, btw! Hope things are going well for you.

Susan, I agree with you 100% on the mint. I have made citrus couscous type dishes before with mint and have definitely enjoyed them. It wasn't the mint being too strong in the couscous, I was worried about. It was that the mint and the dill would clash. I am not sure why but these are such different herbs with such strong tastes, I didn't think they would go well sitting on a plate next to each other. But if I would make the citris couscous again as a stand alone or as a side to a less strongly flavored fish/chicken dish, I would definitley add the mint. Does that make sense?

Lisa

[Sami]

I made this to yesterday (finally) to bring to a luncheon. I used Israeli couscous, the bigger kind, and I loved it. In fact, I love this type of couscous even better than the regular one. The little balls sort of pop in your mouth. This is a keeper.

Sami